The first question judge Phillip Coppin was asked by chief justice Mandisa Maya during the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews on Monday was to clarify his race and identity.
Maya said the JSC had received conflicting descriptions about Coppin, a judge in the Gauteng High Court who applied for a position on the Supreme Court of Appeal.
“I wanted to get something out of the way for me at the outset. It's a nasty question but a necessary one,” Maya said.
"We live in SA and this is an issue for us and it’s the issue of your race. You’ve described yourself as coloured in your form, which is what should guide us, but one of the professional bodies has written in and said you’re a white male ... are you a white male?”
Coppin replied: “I don’t know which white male would be born in Kliptown, Soweto, and attend school in Noordgesig Secondary School. In any event, to put the record straight, I’ve got nothing against white males. They can also make a valuable contribution. As far as my blackness is concerned, I’ve always considered myself black.”
I couldn’t secure articles because I was not black enough or not white enough.
— Judge Phillip Coppin
Coppin, who was born in Kliptown in 1961, said his upbringing in a township marked by poverty and struggle shaped his worldview.
“I’m biracial. My parents are biracial, so I share black African relatives and supposedly white relatives I never got to know. My life was lived more in black society, though I was coloured.
“I’ve experienced suffering: poverty, lack of running water, bucket toilets, long-drop systems, poor schools. I was in asbestos classrooms, bad education, lack of teachers.”
Coppin said his race had made it difficult for him to start a legal career.
“I became a teacher soon after I passed matric because there were no teachers to serve us. My experience of life has been interesting and I can relate to the things we encounter even up to this day as far as poverty is concerned.
“I couldn’t secure articles because I was not black enough or not white enough. I managed to go to university, which I finished in time and I knew I had to go and make a living at the bar. It wasn’t an easy thing but I was grateful to black practitioners who helped me through my first years. I was privileged because I managed through hard work and luck to make it through all of this and get to university,” Coppin added.
The JSC is interviewing 54 candidates for 26 judicial vacancies, including the position of Western Cape judge president, previously held by John Hlophe before his impeachment.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.